Women were not forced to dance at a hostel: Maharashtra govt probe

It was also found that the complainant is mentally unstable, according to her husband, who has earlier requested that she be hospitalised, home minister Anil Deshmukh told the House

Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh on Thursday said a state government-appointed panel investigated allegations that a woman was forced to strip and dance by policemen at a hostel in Jalgaon last month and found them to be untrue.

Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh. (HT Archive)

“A six-member committee of senior women officers...a psychiatrist... visited the hostel, spoke to other residents of the hostel, took their statements, checked the register, and found the allegations as unfounded. No policemen entered the hostel premises as they do not have permission to do so because it is a women’s hostel,” Deshmukh told the state assembly.

It was also found that the complainant is mentally unstable, according to her husband, who has earlier requested that she be hospitalised, Deshmukh told the House.

Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker Shweta Mahale raised the matter in the assembly on Wednesday and demanded action. She said that a video of the incident had also surfaced.

The hostel is being run by the state women and child development department for destitute, mentally unstable women and sexual abuse survivors.